Whenever possible, I phone the customers a few days before tour departure in order to try to help them with any questions or concerns that they may have. It's not uncommon at some point in the conversation to hear them say: "We don't usually do escorted tours, we normally travel independently".
It's almost as if there is some kind of stigma associated with an escorted tour. To me, escorted tours are simply one weapon in an armoury of available travel options. The trick is to choose the best weapon for the occasion. Much like when planning an itinerary, a customer might have to select between a train, taxi, boat, aircraft or hire car - you simply choose the one that is the most suitable for what you want to achieve.
If this is your 10th visit to a city or country, then you can clearly manage and do your own thing. If you're visiting India or Scandinavia for the first time, then you may get more out of it with some help and advice.
This begs the question: Why Choose an Escorted Tour?
An itinerary planned out for you
Occasionally, when I have a few minutes, I try to assemble an itinerary in my mind for my own perfect tour. The most difficult thing to decide is usually not what to include, but what to leave out.
The advantage of a pre-planned itinerary is that you can be confident that everything fits elegantly within the timeframe available. At GRJ, we know that an itinerary works because we've run the tour before many times and know that it is achievable. If you had assembled your own itinerary, you might plan to spend a day in Pisa visiting the Leaning Tower. There's nothing wrong with that, but three hours would be sufficient, even with a local guide. That timescale would allow you to spend a pleasant afternoon in the nearby lovely town of Lucca after a leisurely Italian lunch. At GRJ, we know the rail schedule, so can put all of that together into one day to make the best use of your valuable holiday time.
Leave your worries at home
Travel can be stressful. "What if I miss my train?", "Will I miss my connection if there is a delay?" Or "Can I take liquids through Eurostar Security?" (For information, yes you can).
These sorts of questions can gnaw away at your holiday enjoyment and result in unproductive fretting. It's the job of the Tour Manager to do the worrying for you. On an escorted tour, you're not on your own in a foreign country. There is an experienced person on hand to manage timing and transport issues and to smooth over any bumps in the road that may occur. We may already have worked with our local guide or coach driver, we know how hotels and restaurants work, and the rail network. We will either speak the local language or know how to get by without. Finally, your Tour Manager understands what is most important to British travellers, which can be very different to other nationalities.
Support if transport connections change
When you book an escorted tour, GRJ looks after you throughout your holiday. If a flight or rail connection is missed, for whatever reason, we rebuild the tour to get you where you need to be. If you book independently, you may have a whole series of interlocking elements - car hire, flights, rail - which may be planned in sequence but are not legally linked. If one part fails, you may find that you lose some or all of the others and, when you ask for help, you're likely to be met with a not-my-problem shoulder-shrug.
Expert local knowledge
"How much do I tip in the USA?", "Can I drink tap water in Sri Lanka?" Or "How do I order milk with my tea instead of lemon?".
These are the kind of questions that your Tour Manager is here to answer. The odds are pretty good we've been asked before, and either have the answer or know how to get it. Here's a secret though: The thing that I struggle with most is the dreaded question… "Where are the best restaurants?"
Eating out is such a personal thing when it comes to ambience, service and menu. That's why there are so many different places to eat. Your Tour Manager can tell you where to go to track down a specific kind of food (usually) but, will you like the place? That's a tough one, and it has become tougher since COVID. Restaurants that I used to recommend have sometimes gone out of business, or the chef or owner has changed. That charming waiter? They're now working elsewhere. Oh, and they used to take credit cards but now don't.
So, if you do come on tour with me, ask me anything except: "Where are the best restaurants?". If you do ask, now you know why there is a look of panic on my face!
Meeting like-minded travellers
How many times have I sat in hotel restaurants and seen couples eating together in total silence. It's not that they're unhappy, more that they've said all that needs to be said already. When you travel with a group of people, there's always something going on. My customers sometimes worry that they will have nothing in common with other members of the group, but that's not correct. There is something in common on every tour: Everyone has looked at that brochure or web page and thought… "That's the one for me". Everybody starts from the same place.
I've simply never done a tour where the customers haven't got on well. Similar demographics and outlooks are normal. One of the things that amazes me on every tour is the sheer range of backgrounds and interests that our customers have. From stamp collectors to line dancers, from archaeologists to home delivery drivers; the whole world comes on tour with us - and you'll find they make for fascinating company.
I once had a couple in their early 20s who were on their honeymoon. They were both fans of Twin Peaks and had first met at a fan convention for that TV show. Our tour visited some of the filming locations, so it seemed a natural choice for their honeymoon. At the start of the tour, they and the other customers exchanged slightly nervous glances - they were the youngest people by about 25 years! In fact, it was one of the most successful groups I have ever worked with. They were affectionately adopted by the others, and I like to think that some of the advice they were given was of some use. There were a couple of nights where they went out late doing youngster stuff with alcohol and music, appeared slightly bleary eyed the next morning. This was cheered on by our group with great enthusiasm!
They stayed in touch with me after the tour and are now bringing up their own family.
Travel Tips: Airlines
I'm often asked by customers "How do I get a free upgrade on flights?". The truth is that such upgrades are as rare as unicorns. Airlines will rarely give away for free something that is so valuable.
That said, it does happen very occasionally, and there is one thing you can do that works to help. If you're not in the Airline Frequent Flyer scheme, then they won't even look at you for upgrade. Therefore, sign up for the scheme in advance and you're in with a fighting chance. Even if nothing comes up, you are still claiming points and one day you may have enough to use on something nice. This is especially true for airline alliances. The big three are SkyTeam, OneWorld and Star Alliance. Travel with any member of the alliance and those points tick up.
Favourite moments with customers
Sometimes, what you get is not what you expect in a foreign country, especially when there are language complexities. It's easily done. On a recent Italian tour, two customers were feeling a healthy thirst after a hot day sightseeing in Naples. They decided a pre-dinner cocktail was a thoroughly good idea and well deserved. A spot of self-gifting. They wandered off to the nearest bar and ordered "two margaritas, please".
And after a short wait they got… two pizzas!
